Shirt shredding

This shirt is one of three donated by Helen Frossling of the International Centre for Mathematical Sciences. The photo shows it being cut in to a strip for knitting into a rope. The rope will still contain all the features that make a recognisable shirt somewhere within it. Once the rope is constructed it will be tied and joined to form a knot nominated by Julia (knots are her speciality :-)). Each of Helene’s shirts will be made into a different knot of some mathematical significance.

I like this set of pieces because I hope they’ll convey the intense involvement that mathematicians have with their research. The shirt is deconstructed in a counter-intuitive way, then reworked twice. Each time the fabric is distorted and entangled while working towards an elegant and unique structure.